One Question
by feigningclemency
Summary: When Ryou asks Bakura an important question, Bakura doesn't pay attention to his light. But when Ryou gets himself into a situation he can't get himself out of, Bakura realizes how much his answer actually meant.


Okay, um, this is my first fic, so please don't be too harsh! I'mstill learning improve myself! And if there are any typos, I'm sorry! I suck at the keyboard... Anyway, flames are fine. Just as long as they're constructive criticism and stuff like that.

Disclaimer: Don't own, never will own.

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One Question  
By: xxOne Winged Thiefxx

"'Kura?" Ryou asked timidly, tapping his yami's shoulder. "Can I ask you a small question?"

Bakura turned his head around to face Ryou. The yami was currently sitting on the worn out couch in an idle position, a bag of chips on his lap. On the television was a horribly bloody movie filled with decapitation and stabbing. "Sure. Ask away." he said in a bored monotone, facing the television once more. He thought that he might as well get over with what Ryou wanted to ask him so he could concentrate on his movie.

Ryou nodded his head in a shy manner and asked, "'Kura, if I was gone, would you be happy?"

Bakura didn't care to stop watching his movie and continued to stare at the television screen, not paying much attention to Ryou or his question. "Why do you ask?" he said before stuffing a handful of chips into his mouth.

Ryou shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. It just seems like you don't need me much anymore since you have your own body now…"

"Hn…" Bakura said, stuffing even more chips into his mouth.

"I'm afraid that someday you'll tell me to go away because I'm always interrupting you or something…"

"Hn…"

"Sometimes I feel like it's just my imagination. But when I think about it, it's like you're not even listening to me sometimes…"

"Hn…"

"… Bakura, are you listening to me?"

"Ryou, could you quiet down for a sec? The best part's coming up."

Ryou gave a small sigh. "So… I guess I'll take that as a yes…?"

Bakura gave a shrug. "Whatever…" he answered absent-mindedly so Ryou would stop interupting his precious movie time. He then picked up the pack of chips and headed straight for the door.

"Where are you going?" Ryou called after him.

"Over to Yugi's place."

"But I thought you hated Yami and Yugi?"

"Yeah, well, they have a television. And I'm sure no one's gonna interrupt my movie there." And with that, he walked out the door and headed straight for Yugi's house.

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At Yugi's house, it was already late in the evening. Bakura's movie had just ended, and Yugi was calling Ryou's house to tell him that Bakura was on his way back home.

"Hello? Ryou? It's Yugi. I just wanted to tell you that Bakura just finished his movie and-"

"Hi, this is Ryou Bakura. I'm a little busy right now and can't come to the phone. Please leave a message after the beep."

A beeping sound was heard and Yugi spoke his message into the telephone. "Hello? Ryou? This is Yugi. Bakura just-"

But before he could finish his sentence, Bakura grabbed the phone from him to speak to his hikari. "Ryou, this is Bakura." he said in his usual tone. He was no longer bored or annoyed by any movie interruptions. "My movie just ended and I'm comin' home. Don't forget to make dinner. Remember, I like my steak raw." And with that, he hung up the phone.

Yugi shook his head. "Bakura wasn't that a little rude?" he asked nervously, slightly worried about what the yami might do to him for asking such a silly question. Yami had gone out for a walk and grandpa was taking a nap, so there was no one to protect him from the evil maniac.

Bakura shrugged. "Didn't seem rude to me." he said, throwing the pack of chips off his lap and on to Yugi's floor, which made the left over bits of chips scatter. Yugi's face flaunted for he had just finished sweeping the floor, but Bakura didn't care to mind the expression on the boy's face.

Yugi desperately tried to pick up the bits of left over chips that had fallen on the floor. "Well, when you get home, say hi to Ryou for me." he said as he threw some of the chip bits into a trash can.

But when he looked up from his cleaning, Bakura had already gone out the door.

Yugi gave a sigh. "Someday, he's gonna get himself into trouble for treating poor Ryou like that…" And with that thought out of his mind, he went back to cleaning what was left of the mess the tomb robber had made in his house.

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Bakura opened the door to Ryou's home. "Oy, Ryou! I'm back!"

No answer.

Bakura looked around. His hikari wasn't anywhere in sight. "Ryou!" he called out.

Still no answer.

Bakura walked over to the kitchen, trying to block out the fact that his hikari wasn't answering him like he usually did when he got home. When he got into the kitchen, he saw a giant raw steak in the middle of the kitchen table. Hungrily, Bakura made a dive for it and devoured most of it in seconds. After a while, he stopped. It felt different eating alone. Usually, Ryou was always with him when he ate, making comments on how rude Bakura looked when he was tearing his steak apart. But now, Ryou wasn't there sitting across from him at his usual place in the table.

Slightly worried, Bakura put the remaining steak back into the fridge and walked upstairs. "Ryou! Are you there!" he called out, a hint of fear caught in his voice. It wasn't like Ryou to not answer when Bakura called for him. Bakura was suddenly frightened. What if something happened to his hikari?

With his heart racing, he ran to Ryou's room and gripped the door handle and tried to budge Ryou's room open.

It was locked.

"Ryou! Ryou!" he screamed, knocking hard on the door! "Ryou! Are you in there!" He slammed his body against the door, hoping he would manage to knock it down. In the end, it was no use. His body was too light and the door was too big and heavy.Bakura looked around the house for something he could use to knock down the door.

Nothing.

Bakura panicked. He had no idea what to do and his mind was in a state where it was too shocked to think. In the end, he did the first thing he could think of in this situation. He ran out the front door, headed straight for Yugi's house.

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It was 10:30 p.m. when Bakura finally reached Yugi's house. He knocked on the door as loud as he could so someone would answer it as soon as possible.

The door to Yugi's house opened, and revealed a sleepy looking Yami wearing a pair of black pajamas. Yami rubbed his eyes. "What do you want now, Bakura?" he said sleepily before giving off a yawn. "Can't you see it's late? Go bother me some other time…" and with that, he began to close the door.

"Damn it, Pharaoh! I'm not here to bother you! I need your hammer!" Bakura screamed before Yami could close the door completely.

Yami stared at Bakura like he was insane. Then again, it WAS Bakura. He was always insane. "Look, Bakura, if you're just gonna hi-jack a car with YUGI'S hammer, then forget it. Now, go to bed…" he said before giving off another yawn.

Bakura couldn't take it anymore. Something had happened to Ryou, and Yami was just wasting his time. He grabbed Yami by the shoulders and shook him vigorously in order to wake him up completely. "I AM NOT HERE TO FUCKING HI-JACK A FUCKING CAR, PHARAOH! RYOU IS FUCKING TRAPPED IN HIS FUCKING ROOM AND HE'S NOT FUCKING ANSWERING ME! FOR ALL I FUCKING KNOW, HE COULD BE FUCKING DEAD BY NOW! NOW GIVE ME THE FUCKING HAMMER BEFORE I LOOSE MY FUCKING PATIENCE!"

What Bakura told him got Yami's attention. He stared at Bakura with his eyes wide open in full interest. "What did you say happened to Ryou?"

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_SMASH!_

Bakura continuously bashed the door with the hammer he had borrowed from Yugi. Splinters were flying everywhere and were getting into Bakura's skin, making it more and more painful with each swing of the hammer. But he didn't care. All he wanted was to know if his hikari was safe.

Yugi looked at Yami with a concerned look on his face. "Do you think Bakura's gonna be alright?" he asked in a hushed tone, edging away from the enraged yami who was bashing the door to Ryou's room into little pieces. "I mean, he _is _beating up that door pretty badly…"

Yami gave a sigh. "I dunno. But I have a feeling that whatever's gonna happen won't be good…"

"YES! I MADE AN OPENING!"

Yami and Yugi looked back at Bakura who was now covered in splinters and pieces of wood. Bakura crept through the hole he made in Ryou's room, followed by Yami and Yugi. And what they saw inside made them all gasp in horror.

On the floor lay Ryou, surrounded by a pool of blood. A knife was in his left hand and dozens of cuts were on his wrists and arms. There was even a stab on the right side of his stomach. Blood stains were all over the room.

Bakura just stood there, completely stunned with what he saw. Everything became blurry and hazy. He felt like he couldn't breathe. He forgot everything else that had been going on. He forgot that Yami and Yugi were even there. All he saw was his dear hikari, sprawled out on the floor covered in blood… Dead…

Yugi placed an arm on Bakura's shoulder. "Bakura, are you alright?" he asked timidly.

Bakura didn't answer.

Yami stepped in-between them and held Yugi's hand. "C'mon, Yugi…" he said quietly. "Let's leave Bakura alone for a while…"

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It had been a week since Ryou Bakura had died. A funeral was held in honor of his death. Bakura stood before the coffin where his hikari was placed in. In Bakura's hand were twelve white roses, eleven were real, while one was artificial.

"Ryou, I promise I'd still love you… Love you 'till the last of the roses die…"

With a small smile and a single tear coming out of the corner of his eye, he tossed the flowers into the hole made for the coffin, along with all the other flowers everyone was tossing. And with an expressionless face, he watched as the workers filled up the hole and placed the gravestone into place.

As soon as Bakura got home, he knew that something in the house had changed. It was too quiet. He couldn't shout "Ryou! I'm home!" anymore, since Ryou wasn't there to greet him. No one would be there to nag him about how messy his room was, or how rude his table manners were. No one was there to remind him to do his chores, or to do his homework. No one was there to smile at him when he was in a bad mood, or to give him a hug when he least expected it. Bakura smiled. Ryou _was _a bit annoying sometimes, but that was what made Bakura love Ryou so much.

He never actually realized how important Ryou really was before.

Suddenly, Bakura heard a knock on the door. He was surprised. He expected everyone to be at home since the funeral was over. Bakura shrugged. It was probably one of Ryou's friends, wanting to offer their deepest regrets or something.

But when Bakura opened the door, no one was there.

Instead, on the floor mat outside the door lay a piece of folded paper.

Bakura picked it up and unfolded it. His eyes widened at what he saw written inside the paper.

It was Ryou's handwriting.

Bakura frowned. How was that possible? Ryou was dead. He was buried deep underground along with all the other dead people who've passed away… Right? Bakura felt a cold chill in the air. Carefully, he read to himself what the writings on the paper said.

"I'll do anything to make you happy, yami..."

As Bakura pondered on what the paper had meant, he suddenly remembered that one day when Ryou asked him that one question.

"'_Kura, if I was gone, would you be happy?"_

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I hope that wasn't too bad for a first try. Anyway, review please?


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